Florida Day 8--Disney World!

You can't be an hour from Disney and NOT do the Magic Kingdom.

After a night that was way too late, we got the kids up early, got dressed, and ran out the door to try and make it there before the crowds got too intense.

Kailey entertained Lily while we got everyone dressed. I'm not even sure how I feel about this picture, but Lily thought it was great.

Driving there, spirits high!

It doesn't matter how old I get, as we drove under this sign, the same excitement I felt as a kid came flooding back. It truly is a magical place.

Riding the monorail to the front entrance. Cole was especially excited to be riding the train!

I made shirts again for the family (Amy was amazing and helped cut out characters when I was in a time crunch): George had Mr. Incredible, I had Stitch, Lance had BB8, Jude had Harry Potter (not Disney, but oh well), Cole had a ninja turtle (also not Disney, but it wasn't worth the argument), Lily had Perry the Platypus, and Lexi had the Disney castle.

Getting close! We stood in line for probably 30 minutes to get our bags checked and make it through the ticket line. It was already very hot.

Space Mountain for the big kids first, People Mover for us! Cole wasn't tall enough to ride Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom (I guess the height requirements are different at Disney Land where he was able to ride), so he, Lily, Lexi and I rode the "little blue train" around a couple times while we waited for the big kids and Daddy.

It was a perfect chance for me to feed the baby in peace and shade!

Breakfast! We had run out the door without eating so the kids were hungry. Unfortunately, no breakfast items were on the menu so we made do with hot dogs and the like. I don't think the kids minded.

Buzz Lightyear ride!

They have rider-swap here, so George and I traded on many of the rides. Lily and Cole and I rode the raceway while George and the big boys watched Lexi.

This little nut was an angel! She just sat there and soaked it all in.

Teacups!

I'm getting too old for rides like these. I had to just sit back and close my eyes during most of it to keep from feeling sick. Getting old sucks.

And of course we had to ride the carousel!

Cole and Lance

Sword in the stone show:

We made it a few hours into the day before we had our first major melt-down. Poor Lily was so hot and so tired. There really wasn't much we could do, but let her cry.

Lance was such a big helper!

After a drink of water and the miracle of Frozen's Elsa and Ana walking by right at the crucial moment, Lily finally pulled it together and we were off on our adventure again.

While George and the boys rode Splash Mountain, I took the three littles to ride the train.

We swapped with Dad and Cole and I got to go on Splash Mountain. This was his first time and he was so excited!

Ha! I love his face in this picture!

Hanging out in Frontier Land:

Ice cream was a much-needed treat to cool everyone off. The kids were all doing okay, but George and I were reaching the fraying point with the heat, the crowds, and constantly feeling like we were herding cats when all the kids tried to go in different directions. Honestly, we either needed two more adults or two less kids. We had fun, but I'll never do it just the two of us again.

Haunted Mansion was so fun for the little kids! Standing in line is part of the fun since they have several moving props and little interactive pieces to keep the kids entertained while we wait.

We walked out of the Haunted Mansion to a heavy rain storm. Our stroller got soaked. We took shelter under a very crowded awning and waited for the rain to slow down before moving on.

Sweet baby. She really was so, so good.

Now it was on to Pirates of the Caribbean!

Pirate Lexi!

Riding the Pirates of the Caribbean ride! Love it! Cole and Lily especially liked it.

And of course we had to try for a family picture in front of the castle. Since the rain had mostly stopped, now was as good a time as any.

Our best attempt. It's close. :)

We ran over to the kid section with Dumbo to let Cole and Lily have some fun. They were very excited to ride the elephants.

Daddy, Lexi, and Cole

Lance manned his elephant alone.

And I flew with Lily and Jude.

Although you can't tell from this picture, Cole LOVED it!

George took the boys to ride the mini-coaster while I fed Lexi and Lily found snails.

While I was finishing up, I got a call from George. We had to do parent swap if all the kids wanted to ride, so Lily and I ran to meet them at the entrance of the mini-coaster.

"Uh, where is Cole?"

George and I both turned around expecting to see him right behind us, but he was gone. In the 20 seconds it took us to walk from the exit back to the entrance of the ride, Cole had somehow managed to slip away.

The next 30 minutes were the scariest of my life. We couldn't find him. We looked all around, calling his name, but nothing. I notified the ride attendants who sent people scurrying to the other rides in the area while George and I and even Lance took turns running around trying to find him. Other families noticed our distress and started looking, too. After 20 minutes of searching, the attendant finally called the front of the park and they sent a security person to talk to us. George and I were both in tears, poor Lance was freaking out because I was crying and upset, Lily was having a melt-down and Lexi was crying and hot. I'm sure we made quite a spectacle to those passing by.

The security guy radio'd to the entire park a description of Cole. Five minutes later, we got the call. They found him! At Space Mountain. In an entirely different area of the park. How he got so far away, I have no idea.

A few minutes later, Cole came walking up with a bag of M&M's in hand, accompanied by a park attendant.

"You left me!" Cole turned his tear-streaked face up to me and couldn't keep the tremor from his voice. I grabbed him and hugged him crying, so grateful he was okay. And he was right. We did leave him. Here I thought he had wandered off to go look at something, but thinking back, we had walked away assuming he was following. He turned around and his family was gone. We left him.

I felt awful. We thanked all those who had helped, I apologized to Cole and we all had a serious talk about what to do if we get separated. 

George and I were done at this point and just wanted to go home, but since it was only about 7:30 p.m. and the kids wanted to ride more rides, we stuck it out and finished the day, thankfully with no more incidents.

Cole got to ride Splash Mountain for the first time with me and Lance!

Still haven't mastered the selfie...

This was Lance's favorite ride when he first went to Disney when he was almost 5.

Cole loved it!

We rode most of the big rides again while the parade was going on and stuck it out until Midnight. 

Whew! It had been a long, long, long day. Mostly fun, partly infuriating, with a touch of terror. George and I both decided that if we were to do it again, we would have left the baby at home or brought another adult.

We were all very glad when we made it back to the condo and into bed!